I'll Stand By You
by brittdallas
Summary: One Shot fic. The war is over and Voldemort is dead. Based very loosely on the song I'll Stand By You. HG


Harry has slipped quietly out of the Burrow as the celebration raged on inside. He knew the Weasley's meant well and that they were really celebrating that all of them had come out alive. The war had been costly and the Weasley's knew how fortunate they were. Harry just wasn't into a celebrating mood. For the past several days, Harry had been plagued by nightmares, which seemed to replay the final battle, more than he cared to share. Closing his eyes was the last thing he ever wanted to do and the one thing he so desperately longed to do. He heard a cheer from inside that was unmistakably one from Ron. He turned just in time to see Ron place a kiss on Hermione's forehead. Harry smiled slightly at this and thought how amazing it was that in the midst of war and terror, they had truly found each other. Harry couldn't be happier for them, but something inside him stung and he knew what, more like whom, it was. Ginny.

Dumbledore's funeral seemed like a lifetime ago, when it reality it had only been a year.

_After the funeral, Harry had found Ginny sitting in the courtyard with her trunk. "Shouldn't you be with Ron and Hermione?" Harry asked as he sat down beside her. _

"_That would be more sobbing and honestly, Harry I can't. I just can't cry anymore. I just know that Dumbledore would have preferred for us not to sit her and cry, but to do something," Ginny said, turning to Harry. Harry knew immediately what was going through her mind and he spoke quickly, almost cutting her off._

"_You can not get involved in this Ginny," Harry said sternly. Ginny turned away from him for a moment, and when her gaze returned, it was strong and unwavering._

"_I will do anything I bloody well please. You don't want me around you? That's perfectly fine with me. However, my friends and my family are going to war. Do you honestly expect me to stay away?" Her voice was rising now and Harry was shocked at the harsh tone in her voice._

"_You're just too..." Harry was saying, but Ginny cut him off._

"_Too what Harry? Too young? That didn't seem to matter when Tom had me in the Chamber of Secrets. He doesn't care how young we are or how old we are, so I'm not going to sit idly by and watch people die," Ginny said, and her earlier statement of not crying was becoming hard to keep. Tears were welling up in her eyes and she struggled to regain some composure._

"_Ginny, I've told you once and I will repeat it until you get it. Stay as far away from this a possible. I couldn't bear to lose you," Harry said. He placed a kiss on her cheek and walked away._

Harry was brought back to reality when a hand took his. He knew instantly whose it was and his grip softened. She led him to a bench and there they sat, much like they had that last semi-normal day at Hogwarts. It was Ginny who finally spoke.

"Harry, you really don't have to shut us out." Her voice was soft and comforting, but Harry couldn't accept that.

"Ginny, I put all of you into danger when the war came. I tried to keep you out and you wouldn't listen," Harry said, as he lightly touched the two inch long scar on her arm. Bellatrix had thrown her into a glass wall that had sliced Ginny's arm all the way to the bone when it shattered on top of her. It had healed quickly, but it pained Harry that she would forever have a scar to remind of the worst time in her life. Ginny didn't snatch her arm away as she did when her mother or anyone else looked at it.

"Harry, I got this scar saving you. I helped to protect you, so that you could go and do what needed to be done. I'd do it again. My arm could be completely gone and I'd still do it again. I'd never think twice about jumping in front of anything for you and I would die for you Harry," Ginny said with tears, but her voice never faltered.

"You very well could have and that would have been it Ginny. I'd have died right there with you, war and Voldemort be damned. That's why I told you to stay away," Harry said, admitting something only Ginny would ever hear.

"I didn't though. I'm here Harry and I need you talk to me. Everyone keeps looking at me like I'm going to break, but you are the only thing I'm terrified of right now. I'm scared of you not being able to deal with what happened," Ginny spoke quietly. She thought for sure that Harry would object and say everything was fine, as he had been doing. She couldn't have been more wrong.

"I killed someone." That was all he said.

"Harry, we all know about Tom and what happened. That is nothing to be ashamed off. You saved the people you love and you saved the world," Ginny said staring intently at him.

"He's not the only one Ginny. There are things I did that I didn't think I would ever do...things I didn't think were possible for me to do...I just...I don't think I can forgive myself for those things," Harry said, his own eyes welling up with tears. He quickly wiped them away and stood to leave.

"Come here," Ginny whispered. Harry took two steps toward the house before Ginny had grabbed him and wrapped her arms around him. He tried to turn away, but Ginny never let go. They stayed like that for a long while, before Ginny finally spoke.

"Harry, there is nothing and I mean absolutely nothing that happened that would stop anyone from loving you," she said, never letting him go.

"You don't know that."

"I know that there is nothing you did or will do that will ever stop me from loving you. I'm here for you Harry. You can try to push me away. You can get mad and scream. Do whatever you need to do, but you don't get to leave. You don't get to leave me here by myself, when I would stand by you and walk through hell and back to keep you from feeling pain or guilt or sadness. I love you," Ginny said, now looking up at him.

Harry was looking down at her in amazement and did something he had wanted desperately to do for over a year now. His hand grazed her cheek and she leaned into his palm, before he kissed her. The passion and fire they felt slowed to a deep and sensual kiss that could only have come from a place of love. They pulled away and Ginny looked at Harry, wishing for him to say something.

"I'm not going anywhere." Ginny let out a sigh of relief and with that, he wrapped Ginny back into his arms, holding her tightly, and intending to never let her go.

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**A/N: **This is my first piece of fan fiction in over three years, so be gentle. Any reviews are welcome and encouraged. Thanks for reading. 


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